Improved pharmacist-patient relationship saves time and money, CACDS study says

Drug Store News, March 5, 2001 by Diane West

NEW YORK -- Better relationships between pharmacists and chronic disease patients can potentially save thousands of dollars a year in work and healthcare costs, a new Canadian study suggests.

"Until now, we were always saying that we knew the pharmacist-patient relationship resulted in a direct cost benefit, but we never had anything that showed results," said Monika Simon, president and chief executive of the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores. "Now we have the proof."

Sponsors of the study included AstraZeneca Canada, Aventis Pharma, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Frosst Canada, Wyeth-Ayerst Canada and other drug companies. CACDS and the government of New Brunswick led the year-long project to gage the impact of pharmacist services among 262 government employees in Canada's Fredericton-Oromocto area. One hundred seventeen were asthmatic; the rest had gastrointestinal disorders. The results were released Jan. 29.

Visits to GI specialists fell almost 50 percent during the study period and more than 75 percent of asthma patients (up from 55 percent) reported remembering to take their asthma medications with them when away from home. Emergency room visits fell in both groups.

Simon said pharmacists in the study, hailing from 21 chain and independent locations, did only slightly more than usual when interacting with the study group. "They did exactly what they usually do," she said, "but in addition, they made follow-up calls to patients about refills and checked on their reactions to new drugs." Pharmacists also provided patients with regular face-to-face advice and education on their disease and on proper drug compliance.

Analysts of the pilot program, the Fredericton Pharmacy Initiative reported that the extra efforts of pharmacists helped net an estimated work p lace cost savings of $16,500 among the 262 patients, although drug costs rose as compliance levels improved. An additional $3,500 savings, Simon said, was generated by reduced visits to doctors and emergency rooms. Total estimated cost savings in the study group exceeded $20,000, or about $75 per patient, for the year.

Privacy concerns

The study got off to a bumpy start. Only 262 of more than 1,100 potential participants opted to enroll, a figure Simon attributed to patients' privacy concerns. "They wondered why the government would want them to do this, so there was the suspicion of an ulterior motive to overcome," Simon said.

Most patient participants (95 percent) said they were satisfied with the program and 61 percent said they would like such pharmacy services included in their benefit plans. CACDS plans to share its study with others in an effort to underscore the value of both the pharmacist and pharmacy in healthcare delivery.

"In our country, pharmacists are really primary healthcare providers," Simon said. "As the government and the healthcare system restructures, pharmacy has so far not been part of the groups consulted. We now have proof showing that we are improving health, compliance and productivity while at the same time reducing demands on physicians and hospitals."

In spite of differences in health insurance and delivery systems, Simon urged others to take note of the Canadian study.

"If you measure it on your own, you will come up with similar results," she said, referring to her U.S. counterparts in the chain drug sector. "Standards of pharmacy are as high in the U.S. as they are in Canada. Now is the time for pharmacists to fully utilize their knowledge at the point of retail to directly benefit their patients."